Color Scheme

Subscribe now
Seattle Mariners

Mariners Pregame: Seattle looks for its first series sweep; lineups and starter matchup

Seattle Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma delivers a pitch in the second inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Sunday, April 9, 2017, in Anaheim, Calif. (Christine Cotter / AP)
By Whitney Ogden whitneyo@spokesman.com(509) 481-1067

The Seattle Mariners continue their nine-game homestand with the series finale against the Texas Rangers on Sunday.

Seattle has managed to take both games from the Rangers on Friday and Saturday to earn its first series win of the season, but the Mariners are still looking for their first sweep of Texas in two years.

Texas came into the three-game series in Seattle on Friday off a series win over the Los Angeles Angels, while the M’s had only recorded two wins this season. Seattle starters Felix Hernandez and James Paxton helped hold Texas to only one run in the first two matchups (2-1 and 5-0) and allowed a combined nine hits for the Rangers.

Now it’s up to right-handed Hisashi Iwakuma to the Mariners to a possible series sweep. Iwakuma recorded his first loss of the season in Seattle second game in Houston.

Seattle’s nine-game homestand began with only one win in a three-game series against Houston and will finish this week with another three-game series against the Miami Marlins that begins on Monday.

Lineups and starter matchup

Game 11: Seattle Mariners (4-8) vs. Texas Rangers (4-7), 1:10 p.m., Safeco Field

(Courtesy @MarinersPR)
(Courtesy @MarinersPR)

Starters: RHP Hisashi Iwakuma (0–1, 2.25) vs. LHP Cole Hamels (0–0, 2.77)

Mariners Notes

  • Mariners starting pitchers have combined for a 2.75 earned-run average, the second-best ERA in the majors. Kansas City’s starters currently hold the top spot in the MLB with a combined 2.59 ERA. Seattle starters have allowed no more than two runs in eight of their 12 games this season.
  • The Mariners are looking for their first series sweep of Texas since April 2015. The M’s have recorded 18 sweeps of the Rangers in a three-game series. The last time the Mariners swept the Rangers in Seattle was in September 2007.
  • Seattle is ranked third in the American League for doubles (21). They trail only Boston (23) and Minnesota (22). The Mariners currently have three players who have recorded at least three doubles this season – Taylor Motter (4), Robinson Cano (3) and Mitch Haniger (3).

This Day in Mariners History

In 2009, Ichiro Suzuki broke the all-time Japanese hit record with his 3,086 career hit (1,280 in Japan, 1,806 with the Mariners), passing Isao Harimoto, during Seattle’s game against the Los Angeles Angels.